Rolland Township is a

civil township A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States that is subordinate to a County (United States), county, most often in the northern and midwestern parts of the country. The term town is used in New England town, Ne ...

of Isabella County in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. The population was 1,406 at the 2020 census.

Communities

*Blanchard is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

within the township at , in the southwest corner of Isabella County on the border with

Mecosta County Mecosta County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census, the population was 39,714. The county seat is Big Rapids, Michigan, Big Rapids. The county is named ...

and about two miles north of Montcalm County. It is situated about three miles east of M-66 near the south branch of the Pine River. The Blanchard post office, with ZIP code 49310, also serves most of Rolland Township, as well as portions of Broomfield Township to the north and Fremont Township to the east; and in Mecosta County: Wheatland Township to the northwest, Millbrook Township to the west, and Hinton Township to the west of Millbrook; and in Montcalm County: Home Township. Blanchard was incorporated as a village in 1879 but most of its business district was destroyed by a fire in 1884. * The village of Edmore is to the south in Montcalm County, and the Edmore post office, with ZIP code 48829, also serves a small area of southern Rolland Township.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the township has a total area of , of which is land and (0.20%) is water.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 1,210 people, 465 households, and 346 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 512 housing units at an average density of 14.3 per square mile (5.5/km). The racial makeup of the township was 95.95%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.99%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.41% Native American, 0.41% Asian, 0.25% from other races, and 1.98% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.40% of the population. There were 465 households, out of which 33.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.1% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.4% were non-families. 22.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.00. In the township the population was spread out, with 26.4% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 29.1% from 25 to 44, 25.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 112.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108.7 males. The median income for a household in the township was $36,643, and the median income for a family was $40,536. Males had a median income of $32,500 versus $26,250 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the township was $18,145. About 7.7% of families and 11.6% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 17.0% of those under age 18 and 9.4% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

Merze Tate Vernie Merze Tate (February 6, 1905 – June 27, 1996) was a professor, scholar and expert on United States diplomacy. She was the first African-American graduate of Western Michigan Teachers College, first African-American woman to attend the U ...

, professor, scholar and expert on United States diplomacy; first African-American woman to attend the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, first African-American woman to earn a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in government and international relations from

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

; born in rural Blanchard.

References

Notes

Sources

* {{authority control Townships in Isabella County, Michigan Townships in Michigan